One of the unique aspects to Notre Dame's football uniforms are the gold helmets, which have since filtered through to several of the other Irish athletic teams (including lacrosse, softball and hockey). The football team, however, is the only squad whose helmets receive a fresh coat of paint each week - paint that contains actual gold flakes. The helmet painting tradition was recently shifted from Thursdays before all football games to every game week Monday evening - allowing the paint to fully dry and ease the schedule when the team travels on the road.